


Perchance to Meet

by she_elf4



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Marcus mentioned, Minor Violence, Pike mentioned, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25061446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_elf4/pseuds/she_elf4
Summary: Kirk is taking the subway home, after a hard month of chasing innocent civilians in the name of "military intelligence." And who should he just happen to see, sleeping in the chair next to him? None other than his target, Khan. Hopefully, if he just waits Khan out, he can avoid any awkward conversations... Please note that I did raise the rating a little bit, as the latest chapter has a shooting scene. It's not graphic, though. Chapter 5 is up, it's finally finished!
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Khan Noonien Singh
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. Jim's Ride Home

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a silly, fluffy one-shot. But now, an action-intrigue plot has barged in and taken over. I don't think it'll be very long, but we'll see. This is also the first action plot I've ever written, so bear with me.

Jim was on the way home from work. He was more than ready to get home; it had been a hellish week. He was a Navy captain, supposedly in the "intelligence" branch. He wasn't too sure about that at the moment. With the way Admiral Marcus was going on, it seemed to be more of an "unintelligence" branch.

It had all started a month ago. They'd gotten a new target to watch out for, someone calling themselves Khan. Jim had tried to explain to Marcus that the guy was just your average run-of-the-mill freedom fighter, not a terrorist, albeit a ridiculously intelligent one that always seemed to be three steps ahead of them. Marcus, of course, hadn't listened. They'd been forced to follow the guy for a month when, lo and behold, Marcus FINALLY got it through his thick skull that the guy wasn't what they needed to worry about. Jim found himself reliving that conversation: "Alright, Admiral Pike just gave us some brand new intel. It turns out Khan isn't related to a terrorist cell, he and his gang are just some local vigilantes," Marcus had said rather unceremoniously right after the team had all arrived. Jim hadn't been able to help himself.

"I am aware of that, sir," He'd said. Marcus had rounded on him like a hound on fresh meat.

"And just when the hell were you going to tell the rest of us, Captain? Did you think it would be funny to watch us chase our tails for a month?" He'd screamed right in Jim's face. Spock had been about to pull Marcus off when Pike had spoken up.

"If memory serves, Captain Kirk did raise this concern early in the investigation."

Spock had nodded. "Indeed, I remember you said his assertion was unfounded and illogical." That had pretty much been the end of it, Marcus couldn't go against both Pike and Spock. The whole affair still left a bad taste in Jim's mouth.

The doors to the subway train opened, interrupting Jim's reverie. Jim boarded the train, trying to avoid being jostled by the other passengers. He saw his usual seat being taken, so he chose a seat at the back. The train was pretty full tonight; Jim wondered why, it was only Thursday. He pulled out his smartphone to check his messages and realized with a start that it was, in fact, Friday. This cheered him up a bit; at least he had the weekend to wind down before he had to deal with Marcus again.

Jim's attention was caught by a sudden movement at the door. Someone had just ran on, moments before the door closed, and was looking around for a seat. Jim vaguely noted the man's tousled black hair and long leather trench coat, but quickly turned back to his phone. On a whim, he signaled to the man that the seat next to him was free, figuring it would be his good deed for the day. Besides, it was very likely the only seat left. The man gave him a nod as he sat down. Taking a closer look at him, Jim realized with a start that it was Khan, the very same man that he'd just spent the last month spying on. Khan immediately closed his eyes, so Jim took his time looking at him. He looked haggard; his hair and clothes were more rumpled than usual, he had day old stubble and dark circles under his eyes. Jim wondered what Khan was doing here in Washington; last he'd known, Khan was in New York, involved with some grassroots movement. The one that Marcus had been so sure was a secret terrorist cell. Jim turned back to his smartphone, trying to ignore the sudden awkward feeling making him sweat.

Just when Jim was starting to relax again, he felt something hit his shoulder. Glancing over again, he saw it was Khan's head. The man was fast asleep, on Jim's shoulder, right before his stop came up. Wonderful, Jim thought. However, taking another look at Khan's worn-down appearance, Jim found his annoyance suddenly buried under concern; had something actually happened, that they'd missed? Then it hit Jim; Khan had been working to expose some kind of human trafficking ring. The major bust was what had finally clued Marcus in on Khan's innocence. Khan had probably had to leave town in a hurry to avoid the fallout from the gangs. Jim wondered if he should wake Khan, ask if he was ok. But what would he say? How could he explain his own sort-of involvement? Glancing at him again, Jim just didn't have the heart to wake him. He really did look like hell. He'd probably been through it, too, if it was half as bad as intel had suggested.

Jim's stop came up, and still Jim didn't wake Khan. Neither did Khan wake up on his own. When the train pulled out of Jim's stop, they were both still on board. He'd have to pay for another ticket back, Jim realized with chagrin. Oh, well, that's life, he thought. If his month had been hell, Khan's had been worse. Jim settled in again, once more taking out his phone and messaging his friend Bones that he'd be late again, then closed his eyes for just a minute...


	2. Khan's Explanation

"Last stop coming up. All remaining passengers must depart," the announcement suddenly rang through the train. Kirk awoke with a start, to find he'd also slumped sideways onto Khan. 

"Where are we?" He asked no one in particular. Khan glanced over at him.

"I don't know. We both fell asleep," he answered. They both got up and made their way off the train. Jim trailed after Khan as they both left the platform and made their way up into the station. They stopped and stood side-by-side in the lobby. Looking around, Jim spied the main entrance sign, Alexandria Station. He gave out a low whistle. 

"Jesus. How long were we asleep? I'm Jim, by the way," Jim said, figuring he should at least try to be friendly.

"Yes, I know. James Kirk, you work for Admiral Marcus. You already know my name," Khan said matter-of-factly. Jim threw him a startled look.

"How did you know that?" he asked.

"I know Admiral Marcus." Seeing Jim's suspicious look, he sighed. "Look, perhaps we'd better find somewhere private to talk."

Jim didn't answer right away, instead looking around the station. His eyes fell on the train schedule. After studying it a moment he said, "It looks like that was the last train of the day. I guess we might as well find a hotel room, we can talk there." Khan just nodded.

Jim led the way outside. Looking around, he saw a Motel 6 across the street. A few minutes later they were in the lobby, facing a smirking front desk receptionist who was informing them that a single King room was the only vacancy. After a moment of annoyance, Jim turned to Khan. "We could look for a different one," he suggested.

"It is past midnight and I don't have a lot of time," Khan replied in a clipped tone.

Jim turned back to the receptionist. "We'll take it," he said with a strained smile. The receptionist gave them their room keys and they left. Once they were in their room, Jim turned to Khan. "Alright, what's going on? You know I work for Marcus and I assume you know you were being watched." Khan nodded. "According to our latest intelligence, you and your vigilante group just made that big bust with the trafficking ring in New York City. And now you're here, looking like crap on toast, seemingly on the run, and I get the impression you were looking for me. Why?"

"Because Marcus is in on that trafficking ring. Considering how hard you tried to get Marcus to accept my innocence, I thought perhaps you would help me," Khan answered. Jim sputtered for a moment, then shook his head. Khan really had been three steps ahead of them.

"Ok, do you have ANY evidence to back that up?" he asked.

"Plenty, if you care to take a look," Khan said. He took out a wad of folded papers and his own smartphone, sat down on the bed, and began to spread things out.  


Jim sat down beside him, watching over his shoulder. "Alright, so what do you have?" he asked.

"Well, let's start with these financial records from that ring I busted," Khan answered. He went through his evidence methodically, piece by piece. It was damning; a web of money and smuggling, with Marcus at the center, orchestrating everything. No wonder he'd been so desperate to paint Khan as nothing but a terrorist. Khan would have made the perfect fall guy. Even if he couldn't be blamed for the trafficking, his evidence would have then been ignored.

By the time the evidence was all gone through, it was past two. At Khan's suggestion, they set an early alarm to catch the first train back and stripped down to boxers and undershirts. As they both got into bed, facing rather emphatically away from each other, Jim shook his head in slight vexation at the thought of how Bones would react to this. In bed with one of the best looking guys he'd ever seen, and it was a former suspect out to ruin his boss, doing nothing but actually sleeping. How do I get myself into these situations, he wondered as he drifted off to sleep. Later, Jim was dreaming that someone was lying beside him, holding him. They got up, covered him in blankets, and smoothed down his hair. Jim wondered vaguely if it was Bones.


	3. Shots!

Khan woke up half an hour before the alarm went off. It took him a minute to realize that Jim had shifted over to his pillow and he had his arm thrown over Jim. Khan just enjoyed the moment for a while. It felt strange to Khan to suddenly have hope again, after living without it for so long, thanks to the man he was sharing a bed with. Khan hadn't had a chance to really study Jim, so he did so. Last night Khan had mostly been concerned with convincing Jim to help him but looking at him now, Khan could see how tired the man looked. Even asleep, Jim had dark circles under his eyes and a bit of a sunken appearance, as if he'd been skipping meals for a while. Realizing they'd both skipped dinner the night before, Khan got up, taking the time to cover Jim back up and smooth down his hair. 

As he ordered takeout online from his phone, he mused at the captain's easy acceptance of his story. He'd been prepared for a much worse reaction. He'd thought he'd have to deal with that buddy-buddy system cops were infamous for. After a quick shower, Khan sat down to wait for Jim to wake up and the food to arrive.  
Jim started awake when someone knocked on the door. Khan answered the door, closing it a moment later with a large pizza. "Great! I'm starving!" Jim said with a smile.

"Yes, we both missed dinner last night," Khan said as he set the box in front of Jim and sat down beside him on the bed. Jim looked slightly confused and Khan suddenly noticed they'd switched sides.

Not liking the suddenly awkward feeling, they both rushed through breakfast and headed off to the train station. Once at the station, they headed off to a thankfully empty ticket counter. They bought their tickets and headed off for the train. After the train pulled up, they got on and once again chose seats at the back.

The train had just taken off when the first bullet rang out. Jim automatically pulled Khan down with him as all around him people ducked and panicked. Khan vaguely noted the bullet hole next to where Jim's chest had been just moments before. Khan heard hurried footsteps pounding down the aisle over the screams of the other passengers. A man in a grey hoodie, blue jeans, and a ski mask cocked and aimed a gun straight at Jim's chest. 

Khan lunged at the man, knocking himself straight into the man's knees. The man went down with a grunt. He started to swing the gun around. Jim launched himself at it, grabbing the man's wrist and slamming his hand against the hard floor. The gun skittered away and another passenger grabbed it.  
Jim and Khan forced the man onto his back, forced his hands behind him. A woman handed Khan a long scarf and Khan used it to secure the man's hands. Looking around, Jim found the passenger who had picked up the gun, a burly brown-haired man.

"Good thinkin there, lads," the man said in a thick Scottish accent as Jim secured the gun. "Ya dinna need ta worry about the cops. I've already notified me cop friend Cupcake, he'll be waiting next stop."

"Thanks," Kirk said and turned back to Khan. "You ok?" 

Khan almost rolled his eyes. "You were the one he was trying to kill, Captain," he pointed out. "I expect Marcus was still having me followed. He likely intended it to look like I'd lead you to the assassin." 

It hit Khan then that he had likely saved Jim's life when he'd lunged at the shooter. It was a good thing he'd been fast enough. If Jim had been shot...but Khan forced the thought from his head. He did NOT want to think about it. Luckily, the train was pulling into the station.


	4. The Interrogation

An hour later saw them at the local cop station. The shooter was already in an interrogation room, waiting on someone to start questioning him. Cupcake Hendorff, his boss Nyota Uhura, Jim, and Khan were in the hall outside the room. They'd been about to go in when Uhura had pulled them aside. "One question, why didn't you take this to some local cops, or the FBI? Seems to me it would have been a lot faster and easier, especially since you said there was a time crunch?"

"Would they have believed me? Would you, if this man hadn't tried to shoot a Navy captain?" Khan asked with a shake of his head. "Believe me, we tried in the beginning, before the bust. And afterwards...it went wrong. Yes, we managed to get the captives out to safety, but several of my own people were taken instead. Since Marcus is controlling the situation, my best chance to find them was to make contact with Kirk." Jim and Cupcake both looked surprised, but Uhura just nodded.

"Get started," she told Cupcake, then looked at Jim. "You might as well go in too, just don't screw this up."

Cupcake led Jim into the interrogation room. The shooter was slouched in the seat, trying to look arrogant, but the nervous sweat gave him away. Jim sat down across from him, but Cupcake just leaned over the table at him. "So, you wanna tell us where that second location is?" he asked quietly. 

"I know you cops. You can't do a damn thing to me," the guy said with an arrogant smirk. Cupcake hit him across the face.

"You think this is funny, you little shit? You think you people can come here, take innocent people hostage, and we're just gonna play chicken?" he shouted.

"See, you really should talk to us. My friend Cupcake here gets pretty testy when assholes like you won't give us what we need. And you don't even want to know what Khan's like," Jim said with a smirk of his own.

"So, one more time. Where are they?!" Cupcake demanded, grabbing the man by the shirt and half picking him up.

"Look, I was never told exactly where it was. All I know is it was somewhere around Norfolk," the guy gasped out, giving up all pretense of toughness. Jim noticed his shaking hands.

"You'd better not be shitting us, cause you'll regret it, you little shit," Cupcake said as he shoved the guy back. He led Jim out of the interrogation room. As soon as they rejoined Khan and Uhura he sighed. "Somewhere around Norfolk doesn't give us a whole lot."

"Maybe it does." They all turned to Jim. "Marcus has a house near Norfolk. I've been to it a couple of times. Maybe we should start there."

Uhura raised her eyebrows at him. "Can you get us there?"

"Yea, just give me a sec..." he said, pulling out his phone. He had the address a second later, and related it to the others.

"All right, does everyone have a gun?" Cupcake nodded, Jim and Khan didn't. Uhura led everyone over to her desk and pulled out two extra guns. "I can trust him with this, right?" she asked Jim as she handed one of them to him.

"Absolutely," he answered, almost without thinking. If Khan had meant them any harm, then he wouldn't have saved Jim back on the train. A few minutes later saw them all piled into Uhura's car. Despite the tense atmosphere, Khan looked calm and collected. Jim had to admire that. He could only imagine how he would feel if any of his friends were in the hands of some maniac. Jim would do anything he could to help Khan.


	5. The Big Bust

Khan glanced to his right, waiting for Jim to give the signal. With two unfamiliar cars, they knew the house was guarded and they had to be careful when entering. Khan only hoped that Jim's hunch paid off. Jim gave him a nod, which he passed on to Hendorff. Quietly picking the lock on the door, Uhura led Hendorff upstairs. Khan followed behind Jim, guarding his back as Jim checked the room for guards. No room for hesitation, or error. One by one, they cleared one room at a time, leaving the basement. They quietly approached the door and heard talking from the other side. Jim glanced at Khan's eyes, making sure he was still there, letting him know he'd be going first again. Khan wanted to argue, they were his people, he should go first. No time. Jim opened the door and quietly descended, leaving Khan to watch his back, to try and get the captain out of this mess in one piece. Khan went down after him.

Two armed men, their backs to Jim and Khan, keeping guns trained on Khan's people. Kirk yelled, "Freeze!" and they both turned on him. Suddenly, a gun came out of the shadows beside the stairs, pointing straight at Jim's head, too fast for Khan to shout a warning. Shame and rage filled him as he pointed his own gun at Marcus.

"You should have minded your own business, Jim. Too bad, you were a good captain," Marcus said with a sneer. "Now, drop the guns, both of you."   
Jim turned to look at Marcus, the picture of cool calmness. Khan wished he was as confident. 

"And what about all of these people? We're expected to just let you make off with them?" he said.

"That's none of your concern, Kirk, drop the weapon." Marcus trained his gun on Khan for a second before returning it to the captain, then moved to put the captain between himself and Khan. Khan lowered his gun, hatred filling his gut at the man who, once again, had outmaneuvered him.

Kirk looked at Khan as he made to put his gun down, mouthed "Shoot." Khan raised his gun, followed the captain's request, hoping that Jim could see how sorry he was for getting anyone else involved. The shot rang out and hit both the men in the shoulder. Both men were thrown back. Marcus' men turned on Khan with their guns.

Khan's people lunged at them, knocking them down. Marcus dashed up the stairs. He opened the door to Uhura, pointing a gun at his head. Marcus dropped his gun and Hendorff cuffed him. Uhura moved past them, cuffing Marcus' men before turning to Jim. "He needs a hospital. Khan, go up to my cruiser and call for an ambulance," she ordered with a cool, collected manner.

The next minutes both flew by in a daze and crawled, as Khan dashed upstairs and made the call. The wait for the ambulance stretched into eternity, but was no more than five minutes, five minutes of crushing guilt. He led the team of paramedics down to the basement.

The lead paramedic wasted no time in assessing the fallen captain's injury. Khan joined him. "How bad is it?" he asked. 

"Well, it wasn't straight to the heart, so that's some good news," the paramedic said. "I think it's hit a lung. He needs a hospital pretty badly." The guilt strengthened, joined by fear. What if Jim didn't survive? He wasn't supposed to die in Khan's place. 

The next several hours were taken up in giving statements to the police, military intelligence, just about everyone under the sun, it seemed to Khan. How many people needed their own separate statement? Khan grew increasingly impatient as time passed. Didn't any of these people care to check on Jim? Finally, Khan and his men were released, with a warning not to go out of town. 

After seeing his people put up in another cheap hotel, Khan was free to go to the hospital to check up on Jim. Expecting to find him in the middle of a large group, Khan was a bit disconcerted to find him alone. "Visitors left already?" he asked. 

"Well, all my friends are work friends or doctors and they're still busy writing up all this shit on Marcus. My parents are out of the picture, I'm not even sure where my brother is. You're actually the first one to visit. I've had plenty of calls since I woke up, though," Jim answered. Khan took a seat by the bed. Before he could think of a way to tell Jim how sorry he was, Jim said, "Don't blame yourself. I told you to shoot."

"They were my people. I dragged you into it," Khan countered.

"I was in it anyway, on account of working for Marcus. I'm alive, your people are alive and free, and we made a big bust. I'd say it's a win." His words didn't quite have the flippant bravado he was trying for. He grabbed Khan's hand. "Everything turned out okay, just let it go."

Khan was quiet for a moment. "I will try," he said quietly, looking Jim in the eye. Jim smiled and gave Khan's hand a quick peck. Khan's heart gave a flutter. Drawing Jim's hand into his chest, he looked at Jim's eyes, at the blush suddenly gracing Jim's face. His eyes locked in on the small smile on Jim's lips. He wasn't sure who moved first, but the kiss was light, perfect. Pulling back, seeing the larger smile on Jim's face, made Khan's heart clench. "Get some rest, Jim." Watching Jim's breathing even out, Khan hoped that this was finally the start of a new, better chapter in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is, the last chapter. I hope it satisfies. This was my first action story, as well as my first romance build-up, so it perhaps isn't as good as some of my others, but I'm fairly happy with it. It's made me more comfortable with these genres, so hopefully my skills will improve.


End file.
